1) Bristol street art trail
While the main live street art event and Block Party that was See No Evil 2012 took place last weekend, the results of the world-renowned artists’ efforts is now on display in the Nelson Street area for all and sundry to see. Take a meander down the once grey, dull street and marvel and the sheer size and spectacle that is an array of some of the world’s best street art. And if that’s not enough for you, head south of the river to North Street in Southville, where you can still see the results of this year’s Upfest in June. you’ll probably spot the odd Banksy along the way too.
2) Old Duke Jazz Festival 2012
The Old Duke Jazz Festival returns, a little later than usual, taking over the delightful cobbled area between the waterside and the Welsh Back. The run, which is centred around the Old Duke pub, but which by default also includes the Landroger, King Billy, Renatos and The Apple will come to life with music fans, enjoying decent local ale and cider and watching some fantastic bands, including the Phil King Band, Phantom Limb and Celestine on Saturday August 25 and Blue Note Jazz Band, Fat Man Swings and Jazzmen on Sunday August 26. More info at www.theoldduke.co.uk
3) Treefest @ Westonbirt Arboretum
From Saturday August 25 to Monday August 27, Westonbirt Arboretum – about half an hour’s drive form Bristol – is hosting Treefest. The family-friendly event sees more than 100 exhibitors at the magnificent arboretum doing live woodcarving, selling goods, running workshops and more. There will also be live musical entertainment (including Gaz Brookfield, Corky, Oxygen Thief, Lonely Tourist and Grubby Jack) food stalls and cookery demonstrations. Add in family theatre, heavy horses, helter skelter, carousel, falconry and guided walks and you’re bound to find plenty to keep busy. Tickets £10 per day for adults. Children get in for free. Camping is available. Proceeds to Tree Aid. More info at www.forestry.gov.uk
4) Rise instore gig ft. Olo Worms
Rise music shop in the Triangle has sealed its place as the city’s best loved indie record shop, with a number of high profile instore gigs. On Saturday August 25, they host a handful of Bristol’s brightest stars in what should be a fun free way to spend the day. This includes Olo Worms (whose singer James works at Rise), Spectres (who played a blinding instore set at this year’s Record Store Day) and Falling Stacks. As well as listening to some great bands for free, you can peruse the aisles, grab yourself some bargains and pick up a beer at the fully licenced bar! The music starts at 6pm and goes on until late. More info at www.rise-music.co.uk
5) Sunday Brunch with Hitchcock @ Watershed
The final screening in the Watershed’s Sunday Brunch with Hitchcock series, features the director’s most entertaining films – North By Northwest. It sees advertising executive Roger O Thornhill (played by former Bristol resident Cary Grant) pursued by spies through Manhattan, the UN building, crop fields and Mount Rushmore in a terrible case of mistaken identity. There’s train chases, plane pursuits and literal cliff-hangers galore as the threats escalate and the action mounts. Tickets £5.50. More info at www.watershed.co.uk
6) Fear of Fiction Summer Party @ The Thunderbolt
The Thunderbolt plays host to Bristol label/promoter/magazine/website Fear of Fiction’s Summer Party, featuring some of the city’s hottest bands. Kicking off on Friday August 24 with Yes Rebels, John E Vistic, The Veneer and Jom Johnston the party will carry on all weekend, with Saturday August 25 playing host to GuMM, Call The Doctor and One Eyed Jacks, among others. It will also act as an EP launch party for Bridges. The party ends on Sunday August 26 with sets from Heaven Assunder, Rituals and more. All in all there’s over 20 bands booked for the three day extravaganza with tickets just £5 per day. With garden party vibes you can also expect a BBQ, weather permitting. More info at www.fearoffiction.com
7) Bristol Reggae Explosion @ The Big Top
The Big Top at Creative Common in Bristol’s Temple Quarter is proving quite the venue of late and it’s hardly surprising the massive marquee is hosting a special event this August Bank Holiday – in the shape of the Bristol Reggae Explosion. Starting at 8pm on Sunday August 26, the event sees the coming together of a collection of brilliant reggae acts, including Talisman, Joshua Moses, Dan Ratchet, Popsy Curious, The General and more. There will be a reggae DJ set from Robin Smith and two fully licenced bars. Organised by Midnight Mango, in association with Bristol Archive Records, tickets £10adv. 18+. More info at www.midnightmango.co.uk
8) Robo World Cup @ At-Bristol
This weekend is your last chance to catch the Robo World Cup, taking place in At-Bristol. Finishing on Saturday August 25, the competition features robots form across the world competing in a some miniature olympic style games. Categories include the ‘HuroCup’ events, for humanoid robots which can walk and run, with events in football, basketball, wall climbing, weightlifting and marathon running. The Robo World Cup is being run by Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) (a collaboration between the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England) and is being hosted in At-Bristol. More info at: www.at-bristol.org.uk
9) The Wurzels @ Colston Hall
The Westcountry’s favourite band plays this charity gig at Bristol’s Colston Hall on Friday August 24. Daz’s Rock 4 Charity event, with The Wurzels, is designed to raise money for Children’s Hospice South West. Bristol musician Daz has organised big charity concerts at the Colston Hall since 2007, and in that time over £60,000 has been raised for different charities. The Wurzels have been regulars on the Bristol and Westcountry gig circuit for years, helped by their friendly personalities and brilliantly rural and witty songs such as ‘Combine Harvester’ and ‘I Am A Cider Drinker’; more recently they’ve turned their hand to covers of Kaiser Chiefs and Pet Shop Boys. Tickets £10. Doors 7pm. More info at www.colstonhall.org
10) Keith Lemon The Film @ Bristol cinemas
Released on Friday August 24, Keith Lemon The Film is a rip-roaring comedy based around the antics of the cheeky TV presented. With a similar vibe to Borat, plenty of cringesome moments and cameo parts for minor celebrities, including fellow celebrity juice stars Fearne Cotton, David Hasslehoff and Verne Troyer as well as the beautiful Kelly Brook expect plenty of innuendo, some unbearable gags and a laugh a minute. Now showing at cinemas across Bristol, including Cinema de Lux in Cabot Circus, Showcase Avon Meads, Vue at Cribbs Causeway, Odeon in Broadmead, Cineworld at Hengrove.
11) Crazylegs label launch @ The White Bear
Sunday August 26 sees the launch of a new Bristol record label, Crazylegs, at the White Bear pub. The pub has been diversifying of late, with theatre, comedy and more and this is the latest ventue – its own record label. From 4pm until the early hours, the pub is hosting a party which comprises an indoor & outdoor bank holiday Sunday session of good music, good food. There will be a hog roast in the courtyard, some tasty giveaways and it will be free entry all day. Musical acts include Ziro, TRC and The Kelly Twins with special guests to be announced. More info at www.whitebear-bristol.co.uk
12) National Children’s Orchestra @ Colston Hall
Celebrate summer with the UK’s most talented young musicians at Colston Hall on Saturday August 25. The enthusiasm, energy and sheer skill of this orchestra, with no player older than 14, is sure to leave you awestruck. The orchestra, formed in 1978 by Vivienne Price MBE, who saw the need for talented children aged under 14 to have their own symphony orchestra, recently played for the Queen and are now on tour with conductor Peter Stark. Doors 7pm. Tickets from £10. More info at www.colstonhall.org
13) Bristol Urban Sport exhibition @ M Shed
Until September 9, M Shed is hosting a Bristol Urban Sport exhibition, which explores the relationship between the fabric of the city and sport over the last 200 years. There will also be a series of events in M Shed’s Square such as a Skates & Bikes weekend on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 June with demonstrations by Crucial BMX and Fifty Fifty and Urban Surfing with Wavegarden on Saturday 9 June. Free entry. More info at www.mshed.org
14) Oldland Music Festival 2012
Oldland Music Festival is back on Saturday August 25, from noon, with an eclectic live music line up and plenty of family-friendly fun. Musicians include Grace Allen, Laura Gates, George Simpson, Dan Guest, Amy Horseman, Jamie Allen, Abigail Humphries and even the local MP, Chris Skidmore! Compering the day’s events will be Alice Crocker from Jack FM and Pete Coles. Food and drink will be available, including a Hog Roast and Bath Ales. A car boot sale will take place on the site, before the festival – from 10am until noon. Entry to the whole event is £3 for adults and £1.50 for children. More info at www.oldlandmusicfestival.co.uk
15) Music On Film: Electrick Children @ The Cube
The Cube film programming team and the music programming team have come together for a three day mini-festival of films about music, starting with Electrick Children at 8pm on Monday August 27. Living with her family in a small fundamentalist Mormon community out in the Nevada desert, 15-year-old Rachel lives a pious and simple life until she discovers a forbidden cassette tape containing The Nerves’ ‘Hanging on the Telephone’. Shortly after this exciting discovery Rachel falls pregnant, believing that she is has fallen pregnant as a result of having listened to the tape, Rachel rejects her father’s (Billy Zane) wishes, abandons her life in Utah, and heads to Las Vegas in search of the father of her child. Entry £5. More info at www.cubecinema.com
16) Whitchurch Village Fete
The Whitchurch Village Fete Committee organise a weekend of events on the August Bank Holiday weekend evey year, attracting more than 2,000 people to the outskirts of Bristol. With a Barn Dance on the Saturday evening (August 25) and car boot and horse show on Sunday (August 26) and a horse show, dog show, flower and craft show and of course the Fete on Bank Holiday Monday (August 27). There’s family fun all weekend. Takes place at Greensmore Field. All proceeds from this event are given to local groups and charities, including Holly Hedge animal sanctuary. More info HERE.
17) Run @ Motion club
Bank Holiday in Bristol wouldn’t be the same without some epic party at Motion club, and they’ve not disappointed this year – pulling in the might of Friction, DJ Hype and Scratch Perverts to head up a bill which includes some top local talent and visiting acts and DJs. The line-up includes Funtcase, Skibadee, Jakes, Distance and Subscape, among others. Prepare yourself for an all-nighter with this storming party, held in this indoor skate park with Warehouse Project vibes. Doors 10pm – close 6am. Tickets £17.50adv. 18+ More info at www.motionbristol.com
17) Three Men in a Boat @ Tobacco Factory Theatre
Adapted from the novel by Craig Gilbert, Three Men in a Boat is a quintessentially British journey of misadventure and Victorian wit. We are taken through thatched villages, traditional fetes and glorious countryside as three friends escape the stresses of everyday life on a hilarious boating holiday. The Original Theatre Company have employed the uses of a working pub, live piano accompaniment, music hall singing, a dog and a feast of physical comedy to retell this British classic. Final shows takes place at 8pm on Friday August 24 and Saturday August 25. Tickets: £13/£9, 0117 902 0344 More into at: www.tobaccofactory.com
19) Super Steak Challenge @ Grosvenor Casino
Inspired by the hit TV programme ‘Man Versus Food’, the Super Steak Challenge puts food-gorging skills to the test of those who think they’re man enough to polish off a 72oz steak. The winner will receive a trophy, £20 worth of gaming chips for the Grosvenor Casino Britol and a coveted spot on their ‘Wall of Fame’. Starts 9pm on Saturday August 25. Spectators welcome. More info at: www.grosvenorcasinos.com/local-casinos/bristol
20) Deadpunk Party @ The Fleece
With it’s indie ethos, what better place to host the Deadpunk Bank Holiday party on Monday August 27 than The Fleece. The 200-capacity venue, one of our favourites, will see a wealth of punk bands taking to the stage. These include Attack! Vipers!, Crazy Arm, The Arteries, The Computers, Polar Bear Club and more. With a real South West feel to this (Crazy Arm are from Plymouth, The Computers from Exeter) expect a lot of hardcore fans to come out for this under cover event in what could be a very wet weekend. Doors noon. 18+ Tickets £15. More info at www.thefleece.co.uk
